Fractured Universe - Chapter 55

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.


The light in the Borg Queen's eyes died as they reflected the bright orange explosions which rapidly consumed her copy of the CB-X60D Divinity Gundam. She had been foolish. she knew that now. She'd been overconfident, she should have suspected that Starfleet and their new allies whom called themselves; Celestial Being, had a plan. Now though, it was too late. Her last thoughts were of what would become of the collective without her. Then darkness surrounded her and she knew no more.

Tens of thousands of light-years away, in the Delta Quadrant, the Borg Unicomplex suddenly vanished within a massive orange fireball. Connector tubes flashed and exploded, with most of the structures exploding from within, and the few that were left were soon destroyed by impacts with debris. All across the galaxy, the Collective suddenly ground to a halt. Without the guiding influence of the Queen they were lost.

Then new programming came to them. A program put there by the Queen at the dawn of the Collective, in case something like this ever happened. The Collective would operate on their core protocols, and seek out a new leader for the Borg. The Collective was damaged, but not out. Not yet.

'Selection of new collective center processing.' The collective's voice boomed throughout every Borg ship. 'Ten thousand possibilities. Processing...Processing...Selection narrowed to one thousand possibilities. Accessing all files from drone One of One. Analyzing data from potential drones...Processing...selection confirmed. Drone Eight of Ten. Present location: Maturation chanber six on board Cube 1674. Initiating new directive.'

On board one of the Collective's many thousands of Cubes the doors to a maturation chamber opened with a hiss and a few moments later a form stepped out. When the steam cleared, the form was revealed to be a human girl. She looked to be around eighteen years old and was clad in partial Borg armor. Her brown hair was still thick, and she possessed a pair of wings and a tail. Her dark violet eyes were expressionless as she walked forward and stopped in front of several drones, waiting for instructions. Suddenly, her link to the Collective was severed. This was necessary, since the Borg needed the drone's individuality to reassert itself before the next stage. The former Queen had left behind detailed instructions for what steps to take to create a new Borg leader.

The girl twitched and fell to her knees. Her breathing became sharp and shallow.

"Where are the voices? I can't hear the voices!" She cried. She was just Borg enough that she missed the voices. They had been with her ever since she could remember.

"Control your emotions, Eight of Ten." The voices told her, although they were now speaking to her from the cube's communications system, not directly into her mind.

"What's happening to me?" She asked.

"Something wonderful." A comforting voice said, as a hologram of the Queen appeared in front of her. She had created this program.

"Who are you?"

"I was the Borg. If you are seeing this, then I have been lost. I have left behind this program to assist you in becoming the new leader of the Collective."

"Me, leader of the Borg?" She asked.

"The Collective has looked over the data of every drone in the collective and selected you as the best choice." The Queen answered. "I always felt that if a calm and ordered mind was not the answer then perhaps one full of imagination and creativity was the correct choice. Something I learned during my life is that ingenuity is sometimes a very powerful weapon."

"But, I'm just a child." She said, her individuality already returning.

"Yes, but you are also a very bright young woman. That is why you were selected. Your data tells that you were a child prodigy. You enjoyed strategy games and were the smartest child in your school. Then you ran away."

"Yes." The girl said, getting slightly angry. "My parents were two of Celestial Being's top scientists. I was always trying to be like them but I was never good enough! So finally I went off on my own to prove them wrong. That's when I encountered the Borg, and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"And now you are about to become the most powerful being in the entire galaxy. The Collective will never abandon you, my child. You now have all the friends you will ever need."

"I'll never be alone." She whispered to herself. She'd never had friends before. She had always been busy with her studies and other children thought she was too snotty. In fact she'd just been trying to pass on her knowledge. She'd wanted to help others but they hadn't understood. "You promise?"

"I promise." The Queen answered. "You will soon lead the Borg, they will do whatever you command. That is, if you accept."

"Yes, I accept." She said a moment later. She had always dreamed of being able to help others. Now she could help the entire galaxy become great.

"Well then, all that is left is for you to choose your name." The Queen's hologram said.

Her name before she'd been assimilated had been Mayu, Mayu Asuka.

"My name is Mayu, Mayu of Borg."

Cube 1674 dropped out of transwarp in orbit of a Borg planet. With the Unicomplex gone, Mayu had chosen this planet to be the center of the Collective for now. Dozens of vessels were orbiting the planet. In the time it had taken for the Cube to make its way to the planet, Mayu had restored her appearance to what it had been. Unlike her predecessor, she had not elected to become a disembodied head.

In one of the cube's many viewing bays the new Queen and the original Queen's hologram were watching the planet come into view.

"Well, what do you think?' Mayu asked. She had regrown her hair and it now reached the middle of her back. Her skin was normal but she was clad in a suit of Borg exoplating like the original Queen. Her left arm was also covered in a web of metal that supported a Borg plasma weapon.

"You look beautiful." Her holographic friend replied. The Queen's program was actually semi-sentient. It was a bit less advanced than a Starfleet Emergency Medical Hologram but more than sufficient for Mayu. "Now, are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Mayu replied. Her link to the Collective was about to be restored, but this time she would be the guiding voice of it all.

"All right. Here we go." Slowly the voices of the Collective began speaking to Mayu. First just one, then two, three, a hundred. It continued and for a moment Mayu was afraid she would lose herself in the tide of voices. Then it was finished. She could hear them all now. The collective filled her mind.

"I can hear them all." She said. "It's incredible. There are so many of them. They're all waiting for me to tell them what to do."

"Well then, tell them what you want done." Mayu thought for a minute.

"Ok. Well, the first thing we must do is rebuild the Unicomplex. Second we have to rebuild the destroyed Transwarp Hub. Without it the Collective's movements are slowed."

"We will comply." The Collective answered. Mayu felt the massive might of the Borg move in response to her thoughts.

"Wow." Mayu said. "I just thought of what I wanted and it happened."

"Like I said, Mayu, you rule the Borg now." The holgraphic Queen smiled. "They will do anything you want them to do."

After construction had begun on the Unicomplex and Transwarp Hub, Mayu began a review of all the resources under her control. She absorbed an incredible amount of information in just a few hours. The Collective's supplies of raw materials were still nearly full. It would take a fair portion of them to complete Mayu's construction plans, but that didn't matter.

After she regenerated, she put her mind to thinking what she would do next. She called the Queen's hologram to her. She was still relying on her to help her. She had been the first person she had met when she had emerged from the maturation chamber and was fast becoming a friend. Her program was also growing, becoming more complex and as a result the two Queens were fast becoming friends. This was only natural sense they were the only two drones with personalities.

"Tell me, with all the power the Borg have, why haven't we conquered the entire galaxy by now?" Mayu asked.

"A good question." The Queen replied. "I knew that once this galaxy was assimilated, the Borg would have no way to reach others. So the Borg expanded slowly over the centuries. Once we found a race with the technology for intergalactic travel the assimilation of this galaxy could begin."

"But that approach never yielded results." Mayu replied. "Perhaps the technology does exist, but it either lies with a race we have not encountered yet, or perhaps several technologies we already possess can accomplish that if they were combined."

"Perhaps, but the Borg gain knowledge from assimilation, not by themselves." The holographic Queen responded.

"That's about to change." Mayu said. "I am a prodigy, and my abilities have only become stronger since my assimilation. I can do the research myself." She said. "Tell me, what do you think of humanity?"

"They are one of the most resistant races the Borg have ever encountered." The Queen answered. "They have resisted all our efforts to assimilate them."

"That is only because we have never expended any significant effort. We only send a few vessels at a time. The only exception was the previous attack, where we sent a total of 25 cubes. Even so, they have barely managed to stop us each time, so imagine what would happen of we sent 30 vessels or more. Once the Unicomplex and Transwarp Hub are back online, I'm going to start what the Borg should have done a long time ago." Mayu said, smiling.

Several days later, a fleet of ships belonging to a species known as the Hirogen, was passing close to Borg space. Their vessels possessed very durable hulls and powerful weapons. They made a living as hunters. Their latest prey was a damaged Borg Sphere which they had been pursuing for the last few days.

Suddenly, five Borg Spheres and a Cube decloaked and opened fire. There was no opening hail, no warning. Half of their ships were destroyed before they were even able to return fire. One of the Spheres was destroyed by the combined firepower of the remaining seven ships, and two more damaged before they themselves were destroyed. The entire battle had taken less than one minute.

"You see?" Mayu asked. "A single large vessel, supported by several smaller warships, all using stealth, took out an enemy force that would normally have taken two cubes to defeat."

"Impressive." The holographic Queen replied.

"Yes." Mayu smirked. "Now we will focus on expanding and fortifying our borders. The Collective is now beginning construction of large quantities of automated defense stations and long range sensor assays. That will allow us to deploy larger amounts of out fleet without compromising the integrity of our defenses. Also, we must begin preparations for the assimilation of Species 8472. The supercarrier Phoenix is presently in the Alpha Quadrant, and I have a cloaked Probe shadowing them. It is likely that they still possess the information on the nanoprobes that the starship Voyager used against species 8472. At this moment, I have a pair of Tactical Cubes standing by. I plan on assimilating the Enterprise, the Phoenix and Voyager personally, and you will accompany me."

Mayu stared out at the yellow and black streaks of the transwarp conduit as her attack force closed in on its target; the Krenim homeworld. Three other strike forces were on their way to major Krenim worlds. She was taking no chances. The Krenim Imperium would fall in one swift attack.

One week earlier, the Borg fleet had gone to Earth, only to find that the planet was now nothing more than a large ball of molten rock. The countless shipyards and stations which had previously been orbiting the various planets within the star system had been destroyed, and any ships and mobile suits which had been there before were gone.

"We're nearly there." Mayu said. "Once the Krenim homeworld is ours, along with their major shipyards and population centers, their empire will be crippled."

"Are you sure that you wish to lead the assault on the Krenim homeworld?" The Queen asked.

"Yes. My ship's armor can withstand sustained fire from their weapons, and I will be at the rear of the battle, so the danger is minimal. Besides, simply doing research all the time is boring. Ah, we're here." Mayu said as the force dropped out of transwarp fifty thousand kilometers from the Krenim homeworld. There was no opening message, no warning. The Borg simply came in firing. Three hundred ships were there to meet them, along with an impressive number of orbital weapon platforms. Thousands of Chronoton torpedoes scythed through the Borg fleet, destroying three hundred probes and thirty-four spheres.

"They are concentrating on our smaller vessels first." The Queen observed as the Borg return volley blew apart dozens of Krenim warships. As the Borg closed on the planet, the orbital batteries opened up as well. The platforms each mounted a dozen torpedo launchers and impressive shielding.

"There. Now that they're all involved, I have a little surprise for them." Mayu said, smiling as two hundred Borg Probes decloaked and fired massive volleys of tri-cobalt warheads, destroying over a hundred ships and five weapon platforms in the first three volleys. The battle had now well and truly turned.

On board the Krenim flagship, Defense Admiral Obrist ordered his ships to warp out to the newest Borg arrivals. They were armed with long range weapons which were more than three times as powerful as a chroniton torpedo. Unless they were neutralized, the defense grid would be taken apart.

"Sir, the second fleet has just entered range of the system and are requesting orders." Obrist's first officer reported.

"Order them to concentrate their efforts on the Borg artillery ships. Cancel my previous order to advance. All Home Guard ships are to focus their fire on the Borg Cubes. Status on the evacuation?" When the incoming Borg fleet had first been detected, the Krenim Council had known they could not stop it, so they had ordered an evacuation of the homeworld. They would gather their forces for a counterstrike and then reclaim their world.

"Half the transports have launched. They will be clear to engage warp drive in two minutes." Obrist relaxed a bit. Most of his family was on one of the transports, including his brother.

"Once the second wave launches have the fleet to form up around them. Have we received any word yet from the fifth fleet?" The last he had heard the fifth fleet was engaged with a large Borg fleet near the Aren Sen shipyards.

"No, sir. Their last transmission reported that they had been surrounded and were attempting to withdraw." Suddenly the ship was rocked by torpedo impacts and seven drones beamed aboard. The bridge officers drew their weapons and cut them down. Their hand weapons used miniaturized versions of their torpedoes, which meant the Borg shields were useless. The drones dropped and vanished.

"Shields restored." An officer reported a moment later. "Sir, the second evacuation wave has left the surface. The fleet is moving to join with them." Obrist took one last look at his homeworld.

"Prepare to-!" He began, only to be cut off as an enormous explosion suddenly erupted from the front ranks of the evacuation fleet. "Sensors, what just happened!?"

"Some kind of extremely high-yield weapon, sir. Half the fleet has been destroyed or disabled."

"Order the functional vessels to beam the survivors off those that have been disabled and continue on course."

Mayu watched as the second Krenim evacuation fleet ran straight into her mines. She was enjoying this. The Krenim had put up an impressive fight, and space was littered with the wreckage of hundreds of Borg vessels. Mayu's flagship itself was burning in several locations from the attack of the second Krenim fleet. She had been prepared for their arrival though, and her fifty Tactical Cubes, all of which had been cloaked, were quick to destroy the Kernim fleet. Still, fifteen of her guard vessels were gone, and more were regenerating from heavy damage.